April 6: Anthony Herman Gerald Fokker, Dutch pioneer airman and aircraft manufacturer, is born in Kediri, Java. His Fokker D.VIII was one of the finest all-around fighters of the WWI. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen and his Fokker T-2 made the first non-stop flight across the U.S. In 1926, the North Pole was over flown in a Fokker trimotor airplane.

October 9: The 1st full-sized manned airplane to leave the ground under its own power is Frenchman Clement Ader’s steam-powered, propeller-driven aircraft.